Book Review of "Fan Cultures," by Matt Hills

This article is a reflexive account of my geographical, intellectual, and emotional journeys as I studied the telenovela genre in my native Venezuela. As such, it focuses on the process as opposed to the findings of my research. I trace the personal and academic reasons for my interest in telenovelas, and how this important genre provides an entrance to study the inextricable links of culture, media, and society in a social formation I know well. As I wrestle with the strengths, weaknesses, and implications of my two identities-Venezuelan woman, U.S.-educated feminist scholar-I flesh out the paradoxes, struggles, contradictions, predicaments, and pleasures that are part and parcel of my research experience, trying to understand how these inform my scholarship.     

Book Review of "The Image Factory: Consumer Culture,Photography and the Visual Content Industry," by Paul Frosh

Computer games such as JFK Reloaded and 9-11 Survivor not only aim at an accurate documentation of particular events—such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Twin Towers attack—but also at the playful re-enactment of these traumatic events. In this article, I discuss whether the phrase "documentary computer games" is useful in defining these games. These "docu-games" try to combine the facts of documentaries and the fiction of computer games—elements that seem hard to reconcile at first sight. Do these games create a harmonious "space of communication" in which feelings of mutual understanding occur between designers and players?